APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday December 27, 2018

 

Number of the day:

Haaretz

Yedioth Ahronoth

Maariv This Week (Hebrew links only)

Israel Hayom

Elections 2019 News:
The massive Israeli missile attack on Iranian targets in Syria yesterday and the media slander attack Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu planned against Naftali Bennett in the last elections were today’s top stories along with the meeting between Netanyahu’s lawyers and the Attorney General.

According to a Channel 12 report quoted in the Hebrew newspapers, Walla website owner Shaul Elovitch passed on messages from a Netanyahu associate to Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua, and the three cooperated to undermine Bennett, whose party took right-wing votes from the Likud. Netanyahu is suspected of bribery in Case 4000, the Walla-Bezeq affair, in which he allegedly provided favors in exchange for media coverage as per his liking.

*Yesterday, four of Netanyahu’s attorney’s tried to convince Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit to delay a pre-elections announcement about indicting Netanyahu in order to avoid influencing voters. Netanyahu’s ‘card,’ as Maariv called it, are former justices. Former High Court justice Jacob Turkel wrote a letter calling to delay the indictment decision and Netanyahu’s lawyers gave it to Mendelblit at their meeting. But sources close to Mendelblit told Channel 13 News: "The meeting with Netanyahu's lawyers did not change his mind, the prime minister will be charged before the elections.” An Army Radio poll by the Midgam Institute released today found that a decision to indict Netanyahu on bribery charges will cause Likud to lose four seats in the Knesset. According to the poll, Likud would lose four mandates and have 25 seats. This has not happened since November 2017, Maariv reported. The four will go to Hosen Yisrael (Benny Gantz’s party - total of 14), Yesh Atid (Yair Lapid’s party - total of 14), Kulanu (Moshe Kahlon’s party - 6), and Yisrael Beiteinu (Avigdor Lieberman’s party - 6). The Labor party stands to receive 9 mandates and Hayamin Hadash and Yehadut Hatorah would each receive 7. Shas, Ahmed Tibi’s party and the Joint List would each receive 6. Meretz and Yisrael Beiteinu would each receive 5 and Habayit Hayehudi would receive 4. Tzipi Livni and Moshe Yaalon would not pass the threshold. Meanwhile, 25 lawmakers in the Israeli opposition have demanded that the Knesset hold a special session over Netanyahu's attack on the attorney general, Haaretz+ reported.

Also, Haaretz+ has been preparing ‘Fact-Checks’ of politicians’ statements, like The Washington Post’s column for Trump Administration statements:
Fact-check: Did Netanyahu Challenger Benny Gantz Really Kill 1,364 'Terrorists' in Gaza?
Gantz claimed that during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, under his command, 1,364 "terrorists" were killed. The video claims that the figure is based on a Foreign Ministry report, but a Foreign Ministry report released June 15, 2016, said 936 Palestinians who were involved in fighting were killed. The army says that of the 2,125 Palestinians killed, 936 were "terrorists" and at least 761 were civilians – of them, 369 children younger than 15 and 284 women. The identities of the remaining 428 were not categorized. In his video, Gantz appears to have taken the number of "terrorists" and added to it all 428 unrecognized victims to have reached the total number of 1,364 "terrorists" he boasts of having killed.

Other News Summary:

The exchange that began Sunday between Israel and Iranian-backed Russian forces in Syria continued Monday, with Israel hitting Iranian targets and killing at 11 Syrian soldiers. Israel said its targets included an arms depot and an Iranian training site. The Syrians destroyed 30 Israeli missiles.

Israel said it hit eight Russian-provided S-300 air defense batteries in Sunday’s strikes. The IDF said the Iranian rocket attack (response to Israel’s attack) took Iranian forces 'months' to prepare and was meant to deter the IDF from operating against the Islamic Republic's military targets in Syria. Haaretz and Yedioth provided details about the strike.

While, Israeli officials believe this exchange between Israel and Iran is over and the potential for an escalation into war is low, they expect Iran to escalate its responses to future Israeli strikes in Syria. Indeed, Iranian Air Force Chief Gen. Aziz Nassirzadeh was quoted saying that the the Iranian Air Force’s “young generation is impatient and ready for a fight to eliminate the Zioinist regime.” Yedioth’s Itamar Eichner reported that according to an assessment by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, Israel could face a three-front war in 2019. "The main three fronts are: Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, and they are very volatile. Despite the continued mutual deterrence between the sides, there is a potential for a military escalation, which could eventually lead to an all-out three-front war,” said the assessment, which was submitted to President Reuven Rivlin last week. There has also been criticism of the decision to end the IDF's ambiguity. Former head of Military Intelligence Amos Yadlin said: "Lack of ambiguity reduces freedom of action and increases the chances of escalation.” (Maariv)

Quick Hits:

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Features:

Eight years of war: Syrian women struggle for the survival of their families
The war in Syria forced many women across the country to go to work to support their children: "The aid has made us hostage to many of those responsible for aid organizations.” Fatma al-'Awad, a young woman who was widowed after her husband was killed last year when a missile hit their home during the war, explained, “My family lives in Jordan and has a difficult time. My husband's brother is in a very difficult situation. Therefore, I had no choice but to bear the brunt of my livelihood and the livelihood of my children. I live in my parent’s home after my late husband's family home was badly damaged by the bombing. I go out early in the morning to look for a living, sell biscuits, but it does not help because the economic situation here is very difficult. There is no work. There is almost no agriculture work. Poverty is everywhere.” (Yasser Okbi, Maariv)
 
Elections 2019 Commentary/Analysis:
The media truly won't decide the elections (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) The anti-media campaign the Likud Party launched against senior journalists, claiming 'They won't decide' the elections, is a badge of honor, not an incitement against them. The media's job is not to decide who will be the next prime minister, but to inform and educate the electorate.
The opposition's practical election campaign will will be hit by Netanyahu's train of survival (Dr. Revital Amiran, Maariv) After what Netanyahu did to Rivlin in advance, it is highly likely that the president will indeed make Netanyahu the job of forming the next coalition. Whether Bibi succeeds in forming a government or not, he storms and the social rifts that we see now will be a children's game against what will happen in the streets, on social media networks and in the TV studios. The earth will burn. At one point or another, Netanyahu's term will end and new elections will be held. Israeli society will come to it beaten and bruised. The Likud party without Netanyahu will look like a balloon without its air. A party that dealt mainly with the preservation of its chairman and not the civilians themselves will find itself without merchandise. This is how all the parties who were willing to sit in a coalition with an indicted prime minister will be seen. This will be the great hour of the silent and democratic voices. They need to be prepared first and foremost with a plan to heal the wounds.
Arab MKs Must Not Shy Away From Seeking Power (Salman Masalha, Haaretz+) If the Arab representatives announce in advance that they will always sit on the opposition benches, there is no point to their being in the Knesset.
Everyone's blue-eyed boy: Reflections on the elections (Amit Segal, Yedioth/Ynet) Benny Gantz seems to have laid out his political stall with his comments on the Nation-State Law and his choice of allies, and while the right is determined to brand the former IDF chief as a weak leftist, he is discovering that there is no such thing as bad publicity — at least in the short term.
It won’t only harm the Prime Minister: A pre-election hearing will harm Israeli democracy (Uzi Dayan, Oded Tira and Ilan Katz, Maariv) Mendelblit is advised to reconsider and avoid an action whose results may blur the dividing line between the authorities, harm the leading party and the wider public. It is possible and desirable to postpone the continuation of the investigation into the Prime Minister's investigations until after the elections.
Netanyahu's campaign against Bennett is only a small example of what is happening here (Ben Caspit, Maariv) Netanyahu's campaign against Bennett is only a small example of what is happening here, above and below the radar, in normal times. You see a campaign of this sort now against Gideon Sa'ar. What is his sin? It’s not clear. He is probably in favor of "the rule of law," or something. And against Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin. And against every voice that dares to deviate from the line and not stand tensely at attention at every subterfuge of a junior digital producer who once saw Yair Netanyahu in the corridor. This is the secret of the Netanyahu family's charm. That's why it’s still here. Continues to grab an entire country by a sensitive spot, continues to operate and run a community of sweating dwarves, that runs between the TV studios and the microphones with the same screams dictated by the same crowned one, who formulates the pages of messages and empty slogans that wash the brains of the brainwashed and run the wheels that never stop and that take apart and run over anyone who dares to imagine that there is life without Netanyahu. Amen.
Fifteen Years to 15th Richest: Netanyahu’s Pledge Looks as Elusive as Ever (Meirav Arlosoroff, Haaretz+) In 2010, he said he would work ensure Israel jumped in the global rankings for per capita GDP. Instead, we’re stuck at 23rd in the GDP per capita ranking.
The affair of the officer: When it’s not about Netanyahu, the functioning of the police does not interest the Likud (Avishai Greenzweig, Maariv) Here, when the picture is clear and frightening and backed by Commissioner Rosen's decision, the muses are silent. The entire ruling party fills its mouth with water and does not comment on the grave affair of  Deputy Police Commander, Attorney Sarit Philipson, who lied and hid critical information from the court and the defendants, knowingly and with a clear understanding of the meaning of her actions. The Ombudsman for State Representations in the Courts, retired Judge David Rosen, recommended to the Deputy Police Commissioner to remove from her post Deputy Police Commander Sarit Philipson, Head of the Prosecution Department and Legal Advisor for the Traffic Division of Israel Police, in view of a real suspicion of a criminal offense, following a network of deceptions and lies by the police prosecution in the court regarding the reliability of police speed cameras. The commissioner also forwarded the findings of his examination to the attorney general. (Maariv)

Commentary/Analysis:
Gideon Levy Is Wrong About the Past, the Present, and I Believe the Future as Well (Benny Morris, Haaretz+) Eventually there will be one state between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, but it will be wholly different from the one he envisions.
Benny Morris, You're Wrong: Jews and Arabs Can Live Together. And They Already Do (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) Benny Morris is convinced that what prevailed in the past will also exist in the future. As a historian, he should know this isn’t the case, not forever.
An Israeli Pathology (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) This wicked delight in causing additional suffering to the Palestinians is an Israeli pathology that needs clinical rather than journalistic treatment.
I fear for my life—not from terrorists, but from police (Titi Aynaw, Yedioth/Ynet) The first thing you learn in the IDF is that when trying to stop an unresponsive suspect, you first aim for the legs. Why did the police shot to kill a mentally ill black man, even though they knew of his condition?
Israel 2069, Dina Zilberberg's version: University for men or or the first ultra-Orthodox judge in the High Court. Now you have to choose (Or Kashti, Haaretz Hebrew+) The Deputy Attorney General, who is responsible for the legal battle against the exclusion of women, has laid out two scenarios for the status of women in the public sphere 50 years from now. At the moment, she says, Israel is at the point of decision between Dystopia and Utopia.
Israel and Iran Are on a Collision Course in Syria – and the U.S. and Russia Don't Care (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz+) Sunday's escalation in Damascus shows what happens when the two global powers' inaction create a vacuum in the Middle East.
And if Iran Doesn’t Give In? (Sima Shine, Haaretz+) Eight months after Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal both sides continue to hang tough.
Between Iraq and Gaza: Israel acts with force when necessary (Yossi Ahimeir, Maariv) Shamir's decision not to bring the IDF into the campaign in the Gulf War actually strengthened Israel's deterrence, but it is impossible to learn from the incident 28 years ago about the IDF's response to launching missiles from the north.
A Potential Danger on the Northern Front (Haaretz Editorial) The skirmishes in Syria indicate that the potential for a slide into a military campaign broader than what any of the parties intend still threatens the northern front.
No, America's activist left is not inherently anti-Semitic. It's our home (Joshua Leifer, Haaretz+) Our commitment to racial or gender equality can't be derailed by one Palestine-related bullet point, or one celebrity's insensitive gaffes. Our community's safety depends on working with our historical allies - not retreating to the ghetto of 'what's good for the Jews first.’
 

Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.